Hi, I'm hoping there are some out there that are on Effexor XR that might be able to help me. I have suffered from IBS-D for years. I've been on Colestid for a long time, and it has recently started not working well for me. I find that my IBS-D is far worse in the mornings. I started to have anxiety and panic attacks related to the stomach cramps and this has turned into fear of leaving the house in the morning.

I saw my Dr. and she put me on Zoloft. I started off with 25 mg and worked up to 100 mg. The cramps were doing pretty good, but I had lots of side effects. Bumping up to 100mg started to give me diarrhea, but the anxiety wasn't gone. So, last week she switched me to Viibryd saying the side effects are far less on this med. I got a sample pack and am on day 6 of 10 mg. After the first day, I had horrible, horrible diarrhea. Way worse than on Zoloft, plus night sweats and crazy dreams. I tried to tough it out, but side effects are just getting worse, and after researching online, it sounds like if it hasn't gone away in a week, it might not, and an increase in dose might make it worse.

To make a long story short, I don't want to suffer from horrible diarrhea anymore. After all, that's kind of the reason I went on the meds--to get rid of it! I called in to my Dr. today and she is on vacations until next week. Spoke with another Dr. in the practice and she said that I obviously don't tolerate SSRI's. She said she would call in a prescription for Effexor XR for me to try. Said to discontinue Viibryd and start the Effexor in the morning. Picked up my prescription, and she has given me 150 mg. Effexor XR pills. Does this seem like a crazy high dose to start out with? I'm scared to take one tomorrow, but I also don't want to continue on the Viibryd and have diarrhea over Thanksgiving. Please help!! Will I be ok on the 150 mg?

I'm on the viibryd 40mg. . I've been on viibryd a year now. I found the 40mg has less side effects than the 20mg. . The only thing with the 40mg, don't sleep good. I've started taking half of ambien and sleep good.
I personally think the doctor should have started you on 37.5 of effexor and then moved you up to 75 mg of effexor. Then if needed you could go up to the 150mg of effexor. I've taken the 150mg of effexor before and did ok. The doctor must have thought the 150mg would be better for you. I took it for depression.

The Following User Says Thank You to cuddles1 For This Useful Post:fusionqueen (12-01-2012)

Thanks for the response. I think I'll go ahead and take the effexor tomorrow and see what happens I guess. I wish I could continue the Viibrid. I feel pretty good in the afternoons, but the side effects are just too much.

The following user gives a hug of support to camaronut:fusionqueen (12-01-2012)